A Casual Relationship
by sophk
Summary: At a party, Aaron meets a woman, she works for the Police Department in Washington. They have an attraction, but she is only interested in a casual relationship with him. Can he be in a casual relationship with her? And what is the secret she is keeping?
1. Chapter 1

**Casual Relationship**

* * *

_**"Come sleep with me: We won't make Love, Love will make us."**_

_**Julio Cortázar**_

* * *

The party was in full swing when Aaron arrived. He almost didn't come, but yesterday Cruz reminded him one more time about it. So, he thought, at least he should make an appearance. Matt greeted him as he walked in. "Aaron, glad you could make it, grab a drink, everyone is out in the backyard."

Aaron picked up a bottle of red wine and started to pour a glass. He looked up and saw a very pretty woman standing next to him. "Would you like a glass?" he asked.

"Yes, please." He handed a glass to her. "Thank you."

"Aaron." He smiled. "You're welcome."

"I'm Sydney, enjoy the party, Aaron." She walked outside.

He followed and saw Derek and Dave, "Glad you made it." Dave said.

They mingled with the other guests. Of course, they know many of them from the Bureau. Spencer, JJ and Will are sitting at a table; the three of them go over to joined them.

"Where's Penelope tonight." Aaron asked.

"She had other plans." Derek replied. They sat, laughed and relaxed.

Matt came over to the table, "Is everyone having a good time. Since, you are all here, almost; I have someone I want to you to meet." He stepped back from the table and yelled, "Sydney, come over here."

A woman walked over to the table, Matt put his arm around her waist; she placed her hand on his shoulder. "What do you need, Mateo? And why are you yelling?" Everyone laughed and the men stood.

"Syd, this is the BAU table." He introduced the agents. "And this is Sydney McKinnon, she is the new Associate Director of Detectives for the Metro Police Department. Also, a very old friend." She elbowed him in the side. "A long time friend of mine. Get to know them, you may need their help someday." Matt teased Sydney. "I have to go check on the wine supply."

"Join us, please." Dave pulled out a chair for her.

"Thank you." Sydney replied.

"Impressive title, what do you do for the MPDC?" Dave asked.

"Well, that's a good question, I only started about six weeks ago. But, they hired me to supervisor Detectives working on major cases and to work on the unsolved cases. Which I'm finding out is quite a few." Everyone smiled they had worked with the department before and had run up against resistance and they have been having PR problems. They were sure that why she was brought in.

Will spoke up "I'm a Detective with the MPDC."

"Really, What District?" she questioned.

"The Fifth." Will replied.

"Well, I'm sure we will see each other." she told him.

"Six weeks, where were you before that?" Derek asked.

"I was working with Homeland Security in New York City for the last six or so years." She answered.

Aaron, then asked, "You were one of us, FBI?"

"Yeah, I was an agent for a little over sixteen years. I worked for State Department in the beginning, that where I met Mateo."

Aaron found that very curious that she would give up working for the FBI, when it would have been possible for her to transfer.

Matt came back over, joined them and sets two bottles of wine on the table. "If she is telling you anything bad about me don't believe her."

"Believe it or not, I haven't said anything about you. You know too many of my secrets." They laugh.

"So, what brought you back here?" Dave asked.

"Actually, my son. His Dad moved here a couple of years ago. He wanted and needed to spend more time with his Dad. He is at the age where Dad is much cooler than Mom. So, I moved."

Matt looked around the table, "Dad is much cooler. He is a sports attorney. Lots of perks comes with that. And Luke, her son loves all sports. He's a great soccer player."

Sydney said proudly, "Yes, he is. Thanks to Mom hauling him to practices all the time."

JJ nodded, "That's so true. We have a little boy and we are constantly taking him to practice soccer or play games. And he only six."

"Oh, that a great age. I miss that age." Sydney sighed.

"How old is your son?" Will asked.

"He is almost fifteen." They were all a little taken back, she didn't look old enough to have a son that age. "Enough about me; all of you except Will, are BAU?"

As usual, they all looked at Aaron to answer, "Yes, we are."

"And from what I heard," she said looking at Matt. "It is a really impressive team."

Aaron looked at her and smiled, "Thank you. We all work well together."

They all sat and talked about their jobs, cases and drank wine. As the evening progressed, they started to leave the table to talk to friends, and go home.

Sydney saw Aaron sitting at a table alone, she walked over. "Did everyone leave you?" She took a seat.

"Looks that way, Dave's still here. But he is busy." Aaron responded.

She glanced he was across the patio talking with a very pretty woman. "How come that doesn't surprise me?" she stated. Aaron laughed. Matt came over, placed a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates down in front Sydney. "You know me too well, Mateo."

She filled her glass, "Are you driving tonight?" Aaron asked.

"No, I'm staying here, tonight." Aaron smiled at her.

"No, not like that; in the guest room. Matt and I are best friends." She opened up the chocolates and offered one to Aaron.

"Thank you." He took a piece.

She pops one in her mouth and then moans slightly, "Oh, god that is so good." Sydney noticed Aaron blushing. "Sorry, right now chocolate is the only pleasure I'm getting. I'm sorry, too much information and apparently I've had too much wine." She laughed as she shoved the wine glass away.

"That's okay." He said as he moved the wine glass back to her.

They sat and talked, she told him how she and Mateo met seventeen years ago while working at the State Department. Aaron talked about Jack and the difficulties of being a single Dad. All the other guests have departed; Matt and Dave finally came over and joined.

"No luck, with the blond?" Sydney asked Dave.

"I got a number. I'm happy with that." He winked.

Matt brought out his stash of cigars, and the men lit up, "Sure you don't want one?" He offered..

"No, gave that up a long time ago." She laughed.

They all had a nice visit exchanging stories about the Bureau. Dave and Aaron left a little after midnight, she and Matt picked up things, then sat on the sofa and talked.

Matt smiled at her and asked. "Did I notice a spark between you and Aaron, tonight?" he teased. "Maybe, I will be responsible for introducing you to your second husband. I was the one that introduced you to Jeff." He laughed.

"Oh, good. It turned out so well for me the first time." She laughed. "Well, I'm going to bed. Can we go to the diner in the morning for breakfast?"

"Of course, you will need greasy food in the morning to cure your hangover." He answered with a smile and kissed her goodnight on the cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Monday morning, Dave walked into Hotch's office. "Morning, Hotch."

"Hi Dave, how's your morning?" Hotch remarked.

"Good, that was a fun party, wasn't it?" Rossi stated.

"Yes, it was very entertaining. Have you called the blond yet?" He smirked.

"Matter of fact, we are having dinner on Saturday night. What about you? Have you called anyone?" Rossi inquired.

"No, I didn't get any numbers." Hotch replied.

"You didn't ask Sydney for her number?" Rossi questioned.

"She didn't offer it. I'm sure she is busy, with her job and her son." Hotch shrugged.

"You could ask Cruz for her number." Rossi mentioned. "Or just called the MPDC and ask for her."

Hotch shook his head, "Yes, I could."

Later that morning the BAU got call to Portland, Oregon for a case.

Sydney was sitting at her desk going over the large number of unsolved cases. Wondering where she should start. She picked up the phone and called Matt.

"Hey Syd. What can I do for you?" He answered.

"I have a question, if on occasion I would need information that I could get only from a FBI database. Could I do that, I mean without going through all of the red tape?"

He paused for a moment, "I could probably arrange that, I need to talk to a couple of people, first. What do you need?"

"Not sure right now, I'm finding a very similar MO on a few of these cases. I will get my parameter together and call you back. Thanks." Syd said.

"Don't call me. You will need to contact Penelope Garcia. I will send you information, once I clear it." He stated.

"Thank you, Matt, have a good day. Great weekend, by the way, thanks for breakfast. Bye." Sydney said.

On Thursday, she got an email from Matt with the contact information for Penelope Garcia. She emailed Garcia and asked if she could stop by and meet with her later in the day. Garcia responded that 1:30 would be fine. She pulled together all the information on the six cases she wanted to check on. Sydney had a meeting to attend and then headed over to the FBI. They called up to tell Garcia that she was in the lobby.

"Agent Garcia, nice to meet you." Sydney shook her hand.

"Oh, no. I'm the tech geek for the unit." Garcia corrected her. "This way Director McKinnon."

Sydney very quickly said, "It is Sydney, please."

Garcia smiled and said "Sydney."

They walked in to the BAU, Sydney smiled and waved at the team as they past by. As they walked past Hotch's office, she noticed he was on the phone. He did a double take when he saw her and then smiled. She returned the his smile.

They headed in to Penelope's office. "Tech central. I love what you have done with the place." Sydney smiled.

"I try to keep it the land of peace and happiness in here." Penelope smiled.

"Not easy to do in our business is it?" Sydney added.

"Chief Cruz said you need some information looked up." She asked.

"I do. I have been looking over unsolved case files and came across six with the same MO. Just want to know if there are more out there." Sydney started to fill her in. About that time they were interrupted by Hotch.

"Need something, sir?" Penelope asked.

"No, thought I would drop by and say hello to Director McKinnon." He smiled. How odd, Penelope thought.

"Hi Aaron, nice to see you again. Thanks for allowing me to use Penelope's talents. The FBI took my password away when I resigned." Sydney laughed.

"That's fine, stop by my office on the way out." He said.

"Will do." She replied. Hotch returned to his office.

"Okay, where were we? The search, we are looking for homicides in the last six years that had the signature of a finger being removed. Gross, I know." She added.

"Truly gross. Do you want it narrow down the area?" Penelope asked.

"Surrounding states would be good." Sydney requested.

"More hits than you would think. I have Twenty-seven." Penelope confirmed.

"Can we search for a single digit missing?" Sydney asked. Penelope entered the new parameter for the nothing changes in the results. "Penelope can you send the twenty-seven files to me and I will go through all of them."

"Done." She said.

"You are good. Matt said you were the best. Thank you for your help." Sydney smiled.

"Anytime, it was nice to meet you. Call me if you need more information." Penelope told her, thinking she is really nice.

"Have a great day, Penelope." Sydney wished her.

She knocked on Aaron's door. "Come in." He stood. "Have a seat."

Sydney smiled and sat down. "Thank you for the access to the database. She was very helpful."

"Did you find what you were looking for?" He was curious.

"Not sure, I have found six unsolved homicides with the similar wounds and a finger removed. That sounds like a signature to me, so I thought I would expand my search. Unfortunately, the removal of one finger is not a category. So, I have some files to go through." Sydney shared with him.

"Let me know what you find, we may be able to help." He said very seriously.

"I will keep you in the loop." She nodded.

"Well, I should head back to my office. It was nice seeing you, again." She smiled.

Aaron hesitated for a moment, "It was good to see you. Sydney, would you like to have dinner, sometime?"

She smiled, took a business card out of her pocket, picked up a pen from his desk and wrote her private number on the back. "Call me. Talk to you later."

Hotch picked up the card and stuck it in his jacket pocket and smiled.

Friday afternoon, Hotch is in his office, he started to make a call, when Morgan walked in, "Hotch, you got a few minutes to review this profile." He handed him a file.

"Sure, I will get it back to you by the end of the day." Hotch said. He picked up the phone, "Hi buddy, thought I would call and tell you to have a good time this weekend with Grandma and Grandpa. Be good and mind them." They continued to talk and then he said, "I love you, Jack. See you Sunday night. Have a good time."

He walked down and handed the file back to Morgan. "It's a good profile. I made a few notes." And then walked back up to his office. He opened a report on his computer, and then picked up the phone.

"McKinnon." She answered.

"Hi, McKinnon, Hotchner here." He teased. She laughed

"Sorry, old habits. Hi Aaron, how are you?" Sydney sighed.

"Fine. I'm calling to see if you would like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?" he asked.

"Oh, tomorrow night. I'm sorry, I have plans." Sydney told him sounding disappointed.

"That's fine, I understand, it is short notice. Maybe some other time." Aaron said sounding more disappointed.

"What are you doing tonight? Are you free?" She asked.

"Yes, I am. Jack with his grandparents all weekend. What time should I pick you up?" He asked quickly.

Sydney looked at the time, "What about 7:30 or so? Will that work? I will send you my address."

He smiled, "See you then."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Exactly at 7:30, he knocked on the door. He heard a dog barking, Sydney opened the door. "Get back, Lola. Hi Aaron, come on in. I'm almost ready." She smiled "That's Lola, she harmless. I've got to grab my shoes."

He petted the dog, "Hey, Lola."

Sydney reappeared in shoes, "Ready to go."

"You look very pretty." He told her with a smile.

"Thank you." She replied.

Aaron had reservations at a very nice seafood restaurant. They enjoy dinner, talking about their lives. They both have a nice, relaxing evening.

At one point, Aaron shared, "My son, can never meet your dog. He has been driving crazy about getting one. Did your son want one, too?"

She nodded, "Lucas wanted one for a few years, but we didn't get Lola until about two years ago. It was around the time that he started wanting to be with his Dad more. I was feeling lonely and abandon, so I decided to get a dog more for me than him. She has been a lot of company for me." Sydney smiled. "Especially, since Lucas stays at his Dad's a lot now."

Aaron took her hand. "He still loves you."

She laughed, "I know, it is hard to let go. But, fortunately his Dad and I have a good relationship. You will have to meet him sometime."

"I would like that. Jack and I will have to come and watch him play soccer." Aaron suggested.

"That would be great. Tell me about Jack. He's eight?"

"Almost nine, he is at a good age. But, it can, also be a challenging at times. Just starting to get into sports of all kinds. But, loves soccer." He told her that his Mother had been killed, not the details. She knew by the end of the conversation that he was a very special little boy and had a Dad who loves him very much.

They returned to her house around 11:00, "Want to come in for awhile." Sydney invited him.

"Maybe, for a little a little while." He replied.

They walked in the house. She let Lola out into the backyard.

"Want something to drink. How about a bourbon?" she asked.

"Sounds great. Nice place. Have you lived here very long?" he asked.

"Only for about three months. I'm renting from my ex's law firm, until I find a place." She answered. "Straight or on the rocks?"

"Straight." He walked into the kitchen. Sydney handed him the bourbon.

She kissed him. "I got tired of waiting for you to do that." She teased.

He set his drink down, and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. They shared a very passionate kiss.

"Let's go sit down." She said. She opened the back door and let Lola back in. They go into the living room and took a seat on the sofa. They talked about everything. Occasionally, teasing each other with short kisses.

He looked at his watch, "It is getting late, and I should go."

"Aaron, I'm not looking for a serious relationship at this point in my life. I'm busy, my son and my job are my life. It is all I have room for. So, if you are looking for a serious relationship you need to leave." She said.

"I broke up a two year relationship, because I couldn't commit. I'm not sure what I want. But, right now, I want you." He kisses her, a deep sexy kiss.

They walked into the bedroom, and they kissed. He undressed and into bed. She walked out of the bathroom and joined him. There isn't a lot said between them, they used their bodies to satisfy a primal need of a man and a woman. It was amazing. They held each other.

"That was fun." Sydney teased.

"Yeah, it was. Should I go?" He said very nonchalantly.

"You can stay. If you want." She replied.

"I want." He answered.

They fell asleep in each other's arms.

She woke up around 7:00 the next morning, she moved closer; he tightened his grasp around her body.

"Morning." He said with a smile.

Sydney moved on top of him, "Hey, get the smile off your face. I meant what I said last night. This is only a casual thing."

He laughed and kissed her, "Fine with me. I'm only here for the sex." He said flipping her over and then making love to her.

"Let's cleaned up. I will fix our breakfast." She offered.

They finished breakfast, "Well, I should go." Aaron said, "So, you are busy tonight?"

She laughed and answered, "Yes, I'm going to the dinner and the Royal Ballet with my ex."

Aaron looked a little surprised, "That is nice. Maybe I could come over after you get home? Unless he will be staying?"

"No, he isn't. We don't have that kind of a relationship. It will probably be after eleven when I get home. And I have a bike ride with my son and some of his friends in the morning at 10:00." She lamented.

"Tonight's fine. How far do you ride?" He asked.

"Around twenty miles." She said.

"Looking forward to it. Why don't you text me when you are on your way home tonight." He kissed her. "See you tonight, Sydney."

"Okay, I will do that." As he walked out the door, she was trying to figure out how she lost control of this situation.

Around 10:45, Sydney and Jeff were leaving the restaurant. It had been a wonderful evening; the ballet was fantastic and the French restaurant delicious.

She smiled at Jeff as he got in the car, "We always did have the best dates." She laughed.

"That is true, and our after dates were great, also." He said with a smile.

"Yes, they were. Thank you for inviting me out tonight." Sydney said.

"Who else would I take to the ballet? It was always our thing." He said.

Sydney checked her phone; then she sent a text to Aaron, 11:30. He text back, See you then.

They arrived at the house around 11:15; Jeff walked her to the door. "Thank you, I had a great time." She told him.

"Not going to invite me in for a drink?" Jeff questioned.

"No, I'm tired. And I'm going a bike ride on the morning with Lucas." She replied.

"I understand. Talk to you soon." He kissed her goodnight on the cheek and left.

She walked in, I am such a slut, and she laughed to herself; Ballet and dinner with one man; and then sleeping with another. She laughed as she is letting Lola out in the backyard.

About five minutes later, Aaron is at the door. She opened it, "Good evening."

"God, you look beautiful." Aaron pulled her to him and kissed her. He ran his hands down on her ass and lifted her to him as he does. She smiled.

Sydney did look stunning; she had on a very beautiful fitted black dress with a plunging neckline and four inch red heels. Her hair was twisted up on her head.

"Thank you. Want a drink?" She said with a smile.

"Sure." He replied still staring at her, he couldn't get over how beautiful she was tonight.

She walked to the back door and called Lola in. He watched her every step. They took their drinks and moved over to the sofa. She slipped off her heels. "Did you have to take those off? They are so sexy." He sighed.

"Sexy, yes. Comfortable, not so much." She replied. She flexed her feet.

"Come on." He grabbed her legs, "put your feet up here." She swung her feet up on his lap and he started to massage them.

"Now, that feels good." She laughed as she took the clip out of her hair and tousled it.

"So, tell me about your date?" Aaron teased. God, could this woman be any sexier, he thought to himself.

"I wouldn't call it a date. More like an annual event. Once a summer we go to the ballet together." She started to explain.

"The ex likes the ballet." Aaron teased.

"No, not at all, but I do. So, he takes me. It was wonderful. The Royal Ballet performance was amazing. Then we had dinner at Le Metropole, I had the Coquilles St. Jacques; it was fabulous. Oh, and a Crème Brule with raspberries was to die for. It was orgasmic." She gushed.

Aaron smiled at how excited she was about Crème Brule.

"Jealous, aren't you?" She teased. "Jealous of all the good food I ate." She said then leaned over and kissed him.

"We have a bike ride in the morning, we need to get some sleep." He took her hand.

They walked into the bedroom; she started to unzip her dress. Aaron walked over, "No, let me do that. Since you answered the door tonight that is all I have been thinking about." He held her in his arms. They kissed. He slowly unzipped her dress, kissing her shoulders as he does. Her dress fell to the floor; she is now standing before him in a very lacy, sexy, deep red bra and panties. "Now, that is a surprise." Aaron kissed her breasts.

"They matched the heels." She laughed and kissed him. Slowly she tickled the inside of his lips with her tongue.

"Maybe you should put the shoes back on." He teased.

He lowered her on to the bed, and then removed his clothes. She grabbed his hand and guided him beside of her. They lay there and enjoyed the sensations of their bodies rubbing against each other. He unhooked her bra and tossed it across the room. Aaron gently nibbled her breasts, and then kissed them very gently. Then he proceeded to kiss his way down her body. His fingers folded around the sides of her panties and pulled them down. They teased each other with strokes of their tongues over each other's bodies. Then they made love. After, they fell asleep very content in each other's arms.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

Aaron woke up alone in bed. He pulled on his boxers and a t-shirt and walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning." Sydney said.

"Morning, you should have woke me." He kissed her.

"You were sleeping so soundly, I didn't want to bother you." She replied. "And I had to the start lunch. Are you coming back over after the ride? I'm fixing pot roast for Sunday dinner."

"My favorite, I would love to have lunch with you and Lucas." He smiled. "Well, actually you will be dining with the two of us and at least three of his friends." She smiled. Aaron could tell she loved being a Mom.

"Want some coffee and oatmeal?" Sydney asked.

"I was thinking about starting our morning another way." Aaron teased her as he is grabbed her. They kissed.

"We don't have time. Have some oatmeal." She ordered him with a smirk.

He poured a cup of coffee and she handed him a bowl of oatmeal. They enjoy breakfast together. Then prepared for their ride, and headed for the park. They rode in the entrance and saw the boys riding toward them. They removed their helmets; a very cute, tall young man walked over and hugged her.

"Hi, Mom. Are you ready to ride?" Lucas asked.

"Yes, hi boys. This is Aaron; he is going to be riding with us today. This is my son, Lucas, and this is Kyle, Kevin and Tom. Let's ride. Aaron, try to keep up." Sydney told him.

By around 11:15, they had finished the ride. Everyone, including Aaron had a great time. The boys headed back to Luke's Dad to clean up before coming to Sydney's for lunch. She and Aaron rode back to the house. Sydney got everything cooking for lunch; the boys would be there around 1:00. She had put the roasts in the slow cooker this morning and they were almost done. Aaron was helping her in the kitchen.

"Luke and his friends were great. It was fun." He said.

"They are great kids. Were you surprised by the fact that Lucas is biracial?" Sydney questioned.

"I didn't think about it. I noticed he seemed like a really polite kid and has your blue eyes." He said.

"Just wondered, some people are." She kissed him. "Okay. We are done in here. Let's go take a shower."

They took a very sexy, shower and dressed.

The two of them finished dinner preparation. As the boys arrived, Aaron was mashing the potatoes and she was slicing the roast.

"Ms. M, it smells so good in here. I am so hungry. I love coming to your house." Tom said hugging her.

"Hey Mom." Luke came over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "What can we do to help?"

She smiled, "Get the drinks. Only milk or water, boys."

"Aaron, which would you like?" Luke asked him.

"Milk, please." Aaron replied.

"Food is ready, come and fill your plates." Mom announced.

The six of them had a very nice lunch, the boys told them about their week. And Aaron and the boys talked endlessly about the soccer game between Mexico and whomever they played yesterday. Sydney had made chocolate cake and cookies for dessert. Everyone helped clean up the dishes. The boys decided to go play basketball. The three boys hugged and thanked her for dinner. Luke walked over hugged and kissed her.

"Thanks Mom, everything was delicious." He smiled. "Aaron, it was nice meeting you, we will have to shoot hoops, sometime. Bring Jack and come to one of my games."

"We will do that. Jack would love it. Nice meeting all of you." Aaron said.

Luke kissed his Mom, "I will call you later. Can we have dinner this week at the Fish House? And don't forget I have a game next Saturday at 3:00."

"I have it on my calendar. Let me know what night for dinner. And I love you." She kissed him bye.

"Love you, Mom. Bye, Lola." He hugged her again.

They walked out the door. Aaron looked at her and smiled.

"That was fun." Aaron smiled.

"Yes, it was. Thanks for your help. I appreciated it." Sydney sighed.

She moved over in front of him and put her arms around his neck. They kissed.

"Maybe, we should take a nap?" He suggested.

"We have had a busy day." She replied.

They went in the bedroom. He pulled off his clothes and got into bed, she did the same. She moved on top of him, started kissing him. Then slowly she moved down his body and proceeded to tease him and make him a very, very happy man. Catching his breath, he grabbed her and pulled her back up to his body.

"My god, you are amazing." He said.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." She whispered softly.

He moved over and kissed her. Then started caressing her breasts. Occasionally, he would run his hand down on her thighs and between them. She moaned. He moved down her body, stopped and kissed her belly button. She smiled. He started teasing her with his tongue.

Sydney surrendered herself to him and it is a wonderful sensation. But then her phone buzzed.

"No, not now." She whined; he stopped and sat back on his legs. "Okay, I will be right there, don't process anything."

Aaron is already up and getting dressed. She ran in the bathroom and cleaned up a little, then pulled on jeans and a shirt.

"What do you have?" Aaron asked her.

"Apparently, a murder/suicide." She answered while getting her gun out of the safe.

They walked out to their cars; he kissed her goodbye, "Call me later." He told her. "And be careful."

"I will. Bye." She smiled. "Oh, and remember where we left off."

He laughed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Sydney walked in her house at around 11:30 that night; she sent a text to Aaron telling him goodnight. She walked out on the back patio with Lola, and sat down. It has been a long day. Her phone rang; she answered "Hi Aaron."

"Glad you made it home. Everything, go all right?" he questioned.

"Yeah, just a run of the mill murder/suicide. It was a really messy one, all in a day's work. Did Jack get home?" She yawned.

"He did. Had a good time with his cousins. Well, you need to get some rest. I will talk to you soon. Sleep well." Aaron said.

"You, too. Goodnight." She said hanging up the phone. She just sat there and realized that she was going to miss sleeping with him tonight. Maybe, this casual relationship thing wasn't a good idea; too late now.

Another week began, Hotch prepared for the morning meeting and flipped through the reports from the weekend. He thought about calling Sydney. But, he knew she wanted a casual relationship, for now. He doesn't want to smother her with attention, even though he does want to. But, he will play by her rules for a while. He headed to the round table to meet with the team.

Sydney had just returned from a meeting with all the Chief Detectives in the District. She talked to them about their concerns and what they needed to change. They turned in a list of over fifty suggests for improving their jobs. She informed them that procedures were going to be restructured. Some of them left very unhappy. She would meet will them again in a couple of weeks. She ordered in a salad for lunch and read over the notes for her next meeting today. It was with the Mayor, should be a fascinating afternoon.

As she was eating lunch, she thought of Aaron. Maybe she should call him just to say hello. But, if he wanted to talk to her he would call. Casual relationship, she reminded herself, casual relationship. That probably doesn't mean talking to him everyday.

Around 3:00, she and the Chief of Police and three others left to meet with the mayor. The Mayor had also invited a group of detectives to joined them. He showed up almost an hour late, his first meeting ran long. They met and sometimes debated items concerning the Department. He thought improvements needed to be made and he wanted it done ASAP.

"McKinnon, you were brought in to restructure the department. You will have the full support of all of us in this room." The Mayor confirmed.

Sydney glanced around looking at their faces, support yes, but not help.

"Sir, that's fine. One thing, this is going to be a difficult job, officers and staff with be unhappy and I will not have time to be concerned about anyone's worries or complaints." She declared.

"That won't be part of your job description, you will have a staff to take care of that. Good luck." The Mayor assured her.

They talked about how they will go about selecting the staff, announcing the to the staff and department. Sydney assured them she would implement small changes in the beginning. She had already made a list for changes in the procedures of processing crime scenes. The meeting finally ended at around 9:00, they returned to the station.

She called Lucas, and talked to him about his day. He was doing a summer internship at the Smithsonian, Air and Space Museum, this was training week. Lucas told her everything, he was so excited about this opportunity. They decided to go to the Fish House next week, this week was too busy for both of them. She couldn't wait to see him. She gathered up her reports and headed home. After letting out and feeding Lola, she took a long hot shower. Then grabbed a glass of wine and sat down on the bed to go over files. Lola climbed up beside of her, she stoked her head, "I missed you, today, Lola." She told the dog. Lola wagged her tail. Sydney leaned back against the pillows, sipped her wine and read over files. She thought about the meeting and the fact it was all act to convince everyone that was why she was brought in. All of this couldn't be over soon of enough for her.

Jack had been in bed for about an hour, Aaron was reclining of the sofa, drinking bourbon and reading over case files. Sydney kept popping into his thoughts, finally he gave in.

About 11:15, her phone rang, she looked at the ID and smiled, "Hi, Aaron."

"Hi, how are you tonight? You weren't asleep?" he asked.

"No, such luck. Just got home about an hour ago, took a shower and now I'm in bed going over some files." She smiled.

Aaron laughed, "I'm on the sofa, reading case files. We both need to get a life. But, at least I'm having a bourbon."

"I'm having wine. How was your day?" she asked.

"Not too bad, a meeting then I had reports to complete and file. And yours?" He inquired.

"A couple of long meetings? I'm beginning to question my decision in taking this position. But, that is a story for another day. I want to talk about happy things, how's Jack?" She sighed.

"Fine, he attending Day Camp, for the next few weeks, he seems to be enjoying it. It tired him out. What is Luke doing this summer?" he questioned.

"I loved when Luke went to Day Camp. He is interning at the Air and Space Museum for the summer, this is his training week. He is having a blast." Sydney shared with him.

"Sounds like a good learning experience. Well, it is getting late so I will let you go." He said.

"Aaron thanks for calling. It was good to talk to you. Goodnight." Sydney said.

"Don't worry I will talk with you again, soon. And maybe we can have dinner this weekend? Goodnight, Sydney." He hung up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

Sydney had finished going though the twenty-seven case files that Garcia had sent to her. She found four more cases that match the MO of the six that took place in DC. That made ten cases total, she put a call in to Aaron.

"Hello, Syd." He answered.

"Hi, I needed to talk to you about something. The cases that I had Penelope pull last week, I think it is a serial killer. I have four others with same MO, with a total of twelve victims. The last one was in Essex, Virginia two months ago." Sydney informed him.

"Interesting, send me the files and we will do a follow-up." Aaron replied.

"On it's way. How's your morning?" She asked.

"Well, it was quiet, until you called. Now, I have work to do. How is your morning?" he teased.

"So far, good. I have a meeting next that will probably change all of that." She said with a sigh.

"And why is that?" he asked.

"That is a long story for another time. Have a good day, Aaron. Bye" She said.

"Have a good meeting. If you need the vent after, call me. Bye." He said thinking about last weekend.

Aaron looked over the files that Sydney had sent to him. He sent the files to Morgan to follow up on. He will contact the all the police departments involved, and speak to them about their cases. If no suspects turn up, all of this information will be added to the ViCAP database under unidentified serial killer. For now, that is how it will be handled.

Sydney worked on the memo for the changes in the processing of the crime scene. It is very detailed; she will send it the Chief and other Directors first to get their feedback at today's meeting. Of course, the meeting today will outline the changes that will need to take place in the next few months.

Later that evening, Aaron called Sydney, "Well, hello." She said a little surprised that he was calling.

"Hi, Syd. I was just sitting here thinking about you and thought I would call." He said hesitating a bit.

"Good thoughts. You were only thinking good things, right?" Sydney teased him.

"Of course, when I think of you, there is no other kind." Aaron laughed.

"That's sweet. How was your day?" She asked.

"Good. Most of the afternoon was going over requests from agencies. I heard you kick some ass in your meeting, today?" he said.

"And how did you hear that? Just curious?" She asked, she already knew.

"JJ mentioned it." He admitted.

"I don't think I kicked any ass, yet. But, that is why they brought me in. They finally admitted that to me. I figured it out in the first week. But, I found when working with cops you have let them think they have total control. So, that is my plan." She explained.

"You will do an amazing job. No, matter how difficult it may be. And I like it when you take control." He said.

"Thank for the vote of confidence. I may need to call you for encouragement over the next months." She laughed.

"I'm here anytime you need me. Just call." He told her.

"Thanks. You may be sorry you said that." She warned him.

"No, I won't be. What is your schedule like for the weekend?" He asked.

"Other than working anytime I can. Luke has a game on Saturday at three. You and Jack should come to the game? I would love to meet Jack. Then I could fix dinner for the four of us. Lucas is going to be staying with me all week starting on Saturday. His Dad is going out of town." She informed him.

"Why don't we plan on it; Luke did invite us. I would hate to let him down. It is getting late, so I will let you get some sleep. Talk to you soon." He said.

"Sleep well. Goodnight." She said to him quietly. They hung up. Thoughts of last weekend and their casual relationship ran through her mind. She smiled.

A couple of days later Chief Cruz delivered a box to Garcia's office.

"Here," He handed her the box. "I was told to deliver this to you."

Garcia looked at him and said, "Thank you."

He smiled and walked out. She very carefully, opened the box and then smiled. Inside she found a blonde troll doll wearing black rimmed glasses, and dressed in a tied-dyed outfit with a peace symbol on the front. The note read: Hope this adds to your peace and happiness. Thanks for your help. Sydney.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Friday was a very busy day for both of them. No time to talk during the day. That night she attended a dinner for police officers that retired during the last year. It was a long dinner, so many speeches. It was after midnight when she finally got home. Aaron, had left her a message around 11:30 saying goodnight.

Around 10:00 the next morning she called Aaron. "Hello. Glad you called." He answered.

"I didn't get home, until after midnight. So, I didn't want to wake you." She told him.

"What time is Luke's game, today?" He asked.

"3:00, you can either meet me at my place or at the game. Which ever works best for you two. I will probably walk over around 2:30 or so. I'm looking forward to meeting Jack and seeing you." Sydney disclosed.

That made Aaron smile. "Good. I feel the same about seeing you. We will probably just meet you at the game, we have some errands to run. Jack needs new shoes, so we have to go shopping." He told her.

"By the way, is chicken okay for dinner, tonight? She asked.

"Yeah, Jack loves chicken." He replied.

"Great, see you then. Have a good time shopping. Bye." She said.

"Bye, Sydney." He said.

Sydney is excited that Jack and Aaron are coming over for dinner. She thought it might be fun to have a casual family night. On the menu, grilled chicken, salad, mac and cheese, and corn pudding, which is Luke's favorite. She made a chocolate chip cake for dessert. Everything, was prepped, so when they returned from the game; dinner would be simple.

Sydney got ready and went to the soccer field. Jeff and his Mother, Whitney, had arrived and were seated in the stands. They wave; she walked over. Sydney and her ex-mother-in-law always had and still do have a good relationship. They have the utmost respect for each other as women. Both have accomplished many goals in their careers.

"So, nice to see you, again." Whitney told her.

"Wonderful to see you. You look great." Sydney said. She saw Aaron and Jack walked down the steps, "Excuse me, I see my friend and his son have arrived. Be right back."

Aaron saw her and smiled. "Hi Sydney," He said and gave her a quick kiss. "Jack, this is a good friend of mine, Sydney. And this is Jack."

Sydney leaned down and said "Hi Jack, nice to meet you. I have heard a lot about you."

"Nice to meet you, too. Is your son playing today?" Jack smiled.

They are standing at the edge of the field. She saw Luke running over to them.

"Yes, he is and here he comes." Sydney added.

Luke ran up, he kissed her, "Hi Mom, Aaron. And you must be Jack. I'm Luke, thanks for coming to my game today." He told Jack.

"I'm glad we got to come. I love soccer. I play, too." Jack said with excitement.

"We will have to kick the ball around sometime. I better get back over there." Luke said.

"Have a good game. Be careful." She said giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Aaron smiled, "Such a Mom thing, be careful, he is playing soccer." He laughed.

She glanced a look at him. "Come on, we are sitting over here."

They get over to the seats and she does the introductions, Aaron shook hands with Jeff and then with Whitney.

"Judge Addison, nice to see you again." Aaron said.

"Aaron, I think you can drop the judge, I retired long ago. So, please just call me Whitney." She told him.

"Yes, ma'am." He replied.

The game started Aaron was seated in between Jack and Sydney. During the game they cheered and yelled while Luke scored a point during the second period. Jack was having great time, he loved watching game. He was also, ecstatic that our team won. Luke came over and gave Jack a high-five. That was a highlight of his day. Luke took Jack with him to pack his stuff to go home.

"Aaron, it was nice to meet you. I'm sure we will see each other again. Well, we have a plane to catch." Jeff said as and his Mother hugged Syd bye.

"Have a safe trip. I'll talk to you sometime this week." Sydney told him. They left, walk over and said goodbye to Luke and Jack.

Aaron put his arm on Sydney's back. She smiled. "Thank you for coming today and bringing Jack. It is great meeting him." She gave him a quick kiss.

"Don't do that." He said very seriously.

"I'm sorry." She said feeling a little rejected.

She stepped a little away from him. He looked at her, and grabbed her around the waist, "No, not because, I don't like it. I like it too much. I've missed you this week. So, I'm trying to stay in control."

"Good, make me feel better. I thought you didn't like me anymore." She teased.

Just then the boys walked over, "Are you ready to go home and have dinner?" She asked.

"Yes." The boys said in unison. They rode back to the house with Aaron and Jack.

They walked into the house, Luke threw his stuff in the laundry room, "I'm going to go take a shower."

"Good idea, you have BO." She teased.

"Thanks Mom." He said as he ran up the stairs. Jack laughed at the comment, as he is petted the dog.

"Her name is Lola and she probably needs to go outside." Sidney told him.

Aaron walked over and opened up the sliding door. "Come on Lola, go outside."

She does, Jack and Aaron followed her. Sydney prepared the chicken for the grill and sat it on the counter. Then she walked out in the backyard and started the grill. She picked up a ball and tossed it, Lola grabbed it up.

"Call her Jack and she will bring it to you." Sydney instructed him. He does, then tossed it and Lola returned it to him.

"Neat. Good dog." He said as he is petted her.

The chicken on the grill and then she walked back in and put the food in the oven. Lucas came in smelling much better and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Take one out for Jack, please." She told him.

"Sure." He replied. He walked outside and visited with Jack and Aaron.

A few minutes later Aaron walked in the kitchen, "Anything I can do to help?" he asked as he put his arm around her.

"That is not helping." She said as she turned around and kissed him. Then they share a very passionate kiss.

"Shouldn't have done that." He teased as he backed up.

"You know what they say, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen." She laughed.

"I would love to take you out of the kitchen and into the bedroom. But, I think the boys would miss us." He laughed. They kissed again. "What can I do to help?"

"At the moment, nothing. Let's go outside." She said.

As they walked out they see Luke and Jack kicking the soccer ball. Luke is giving him some tips. They stood and just watched.

"Luke's a good coach." Aaron said.

They were both so cute and were having such a good time. The chicken is finally ready. Sydney and Aaron set the table and carried the food outside, he is pouring the drinks. Sydney yelled for the boys to go wash their hands. They come in, wash up, then head back out and sit down at the table. Everyone is seated and filled their plates; Jack talked about how much he loved mac and cheese.

"It's one of my favorites, too. But Jack, try the corn pudding it's awesome." Luke told him.

Jack takes a bite, "This is so good."

Aaron talked about the soccer game and how impressed he was by the way Luke played.

"Thank you. I will have to come and watch Jack play sometime." Luke added.

"You both have to come. That would be great. Will you bring Lola, too?" Jack asked.

"I guess she could come with us. I took her to one of Luke's games when she was a little puppy and she kept trying to run out and chase the ball." Sydney said. They all laughed.

After they finished eating, everyone had cake and ice cream for dessert. It was a great dinner. They all pitched in cleaned up the table. Then Luke and Jack went in to play a video game. Aaron and Sydney sat outside talking and enjoyed a glass of wine.

"So, how is work?" He asked.

"Fine, at the moment, I'm putting together some proposals and I going to start meeting with some of the officers." She said.

"How, many cops do you think are involved?" He asked directly.

"Involved in what? I just restructuring, not investigating." Sydney replied with a slight smile.

"Just promise me, that you will be very careful. Dirty cops have nothing to lose." He reminded her.

"That's true. I remember that from my days as an FBI agent." She said leaning over and kissing him. "Don't worry about me, I will be fine."

They kissed again, this time much more seriously. "Maybe, we can meet at a hotel for lunch one day this week?" He said kind of teasing. She laughed. She kissed him again.

"We will figure something out if not this week maybe next." Sydney assured him. "Remember you owe me."

"I know exactly where I left off." He smiled. "Let's make it soon. Well, it is getting late, we need to go." He said. He helped her up and they kissed, a wonderful steamy, sexy kiss. "Now, I have to go."

They walked in the house. "Buddy, come on it is time to go home." Aaron said to Jack.

"Do we have to, Dad?" he whined.

"Yes, we do. We will come back over soon, I promise." He said. "

"Okay," Jack finally agreed getting up very slowly.

They all walked to the door, Jack petted Lola and said "Bye, Lola." Jack and Luke share a high-five.

"See you soon, Jack." Luke told him.

Sydney knelt down and hugged Jack. "Thank you so much for coming over, I very glad I got to meet you."

Jack leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I glad I met you, too. Dinner was really good. See you soon."

Luke and Aaron said their goodbyes.

And then Aaron leaned over and kissed Sydney. "Drive safely. Call when you get home." She told him.

"I will, as soon as I get him in bed. Thanks for everything." he said kissing her one more time.

A little after 10:30, Aaron called. "Good evening." She answered.

"Hi, is your house quiet now?" He asked.

"Not, really the other three boys came over to spend the night. So, at the moment I'm finishing cleaning up the kitchen. They ate up all the leftovers from dinner. But, that is fine. Growing boys, see what you have to look forward to." She reminded him.

"Jack was still so excited about the day. It took me forever to get him to go bed tonight. It sounds quiet there now, where are they?" He asked.

"Well, I just walked in the bedroom. They are watching a movie in the den. And I'm sure I will find a couple of them or all of them in there in the morning." She said with a smile.

"At least they can entertain themselves. When Jack's friends stay here, they always seemed to get bored." He said.

"That doesn't sound so bad to me. Believe me they do grow up so fast." she warned him.

"I know. Thank you for today. Jack and I both had a great time. He really enjoyed being with Luke." Aaron smiled.

"Luke enjoyed the evening, he really liked being with both of you. We will have to do that again. Maybe the four of us can plan an outing at the aquarium or somewhere?" Sydney suggested.

"We should do that. It would be fun." He told her.

They talked about things for the next half-an-hour. And then she said, "Well, I should go check on my boys. I will talk to you soon. Sleep well. Goodnight." She said sweetly.

"Yeah, it is late. Check your schedule next week, maybe we can go to dinner one evening. Talk to you soon. Bye." He said hanging up. He sat there for a while and thought about the fact that he was missing her. He has tried, but this doesn't feel like a casual relationship to him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

The next week flew by, work was crazy for both of them. Sydney was starting to make changes and ruffle some feathers within the department. And she tried to spend as much time with Lucas as possible.

The BAU got called to Eugene, Oregon, on Thursday morning. Two seven-years old little girls were kidnapped the night before. Aaron had sent a text saying they were leaving. But, she hadn't heard anything else from him.

Jeff returned home on Saturday evening, he ended up taking Sydney and Luke to dinner. They had a wonderful evening. After, dinner Luke went back to his Dad's, they were going to Baltimore to a baseball game tomorrow. About 9:00, she poured a glass of wine and sat out in the back deck with Lola. She was still going over files, but it seemed relaxing.

Finally, she went in and took a shower, and got into bed. Just after midnight, her phone rang, "Well, hello." She answered.

"It is so good to hear your voice." He said.

"Are you home?" She asked.

"Just landed. Is it all right if I come over?" He asked. She could hear the stress in his voice.

"Of course, I'm here by myself." Sydney told him.

"See you in thirty." He said.

She got up, combed her hair and turned on the porch light. She only had on a XXL t-shirt, but thought that would be okay with him.

She saw him walked up to the front door, and she opened it. Without saying a word, he took her in his arms and kissed her. "I missed you." He told her in between kisses.

"I missed you, too." She said.

He took her hand and led her into the bedroom. He immediately pulled off her t-shirt, and held her for a moment. He got undressed, and into bed. He pulled her down on top of him. They kissed, their hands wandered over each other's bodies. She had missed his touch and he had missed hers. They made very gentle, tender love. This time it seemed different to her, she didn't know why. When they finished she laid there with her head on his chest, his strong arms around her.

Aaron kissed the top of her head. "So, how are you?" he asked.

"Been busy. Lucas went back to his Dad's tonight. I'll miss him, it was nice having him around." She said kissing his chest.

"He will be back." He squeezed her.

"Where's Jack?" She inquired.

"With Jessica, I will pick him up in the morning. I talked to him earlier, he was fine. They had gone to a movie this afternoon." He said.

"How was the case?" She asked knowing he may or may not answer.

"We found one of the little girls in time. So, at least she is with her parents tonight." He replied.

Sydney sat up and kissed him. "Aaron, honey. We can't save them all. I know how hard it is when it ends like that. But, your team returned a little girl safely back to her parents. That doesn't always happen." She kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her. They fell asleep.

He woke up the next morning with a smile on his face. Of course, it could have had something to do with what Sydney was doing at that moment. She moved up on his body and they made love. They stayed in bed and caught up on each other's week, she went in to get water. When she returned he on the phone. It was a little after 7:30, she was curious about who he was talking with.

Aaron hung up, "That was Jessica, I told her to call when Jack got up. So, I could pick him up and go to breakfast. Why don't you come with us?" He smiled.

"I would love to, but I can't today." she told him.

"Do you have other plans?" he asked.

"Just working." She said.

When she said that he knew that she was trying to keep unwanted attention away from Jack.

"Working today, you must be getting a lot accomplished." Aaron said.

"It's moving forward." She said, for the first really regretting the decision to take this assignment. He could see how tense she was getting.

"Want to take a shower?" he suggested.

"Sounds so good." She laughed and kissed him.

After they showered and dressed, she went in the kitchen and made coffee. Aaron walked in and put his arms around her, he whispered in her ear, "This will all work out, I have faith in you." He kissed her.

"Thank you for understanding." She said.

He smiled, "By the way, Dave is having a dinner party next Saturday night want to be my date?" He asked, knowing she can't because of Will. If it would get back to the wrong people that Will had socialized with her, it could be very bad for him.

She looked at him and sighed, "I can't, but thank you for asking."

"Just wanted you to know I would love to have you with me." He told her and then gave her a kiss. His phone rang, she heard him say, "Great, tell him I'm on my way."

They walked to the door and shared kisses. "I'm glad you came over. Call me." She said.

"I am, too. Talk to you later. Be careful." He said. She smiled. They kissed, he left.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

Sydney over the next week work on the final preparations of her assignment; Aaron was right she was brought in for a reason. It had been uncovered that the MPDC had a group of officers that over the years had taken kickbacks, changed reports, failed to investigate crimes, covered up evidence and many other violations. If they could make money by doing it, they did it. That, also, included killing. So, the Police Chief contacted the FBI for help. They approached Sydney, she had already told them she wanted to go back to Washington. After studying the file, she agreed to take the assignment. That was five and a half months ago, now she hoped it was coming to an end.

She had talked to Aaron a couple of times this week. Late Tuesday night, he called, "Hi." She answered.

"Had a moment thought I would call, we are in Seattle on a case. What are you doing? Let me guess working?" He said.

"Nothing else for me to do, you're not here." She teased.

"Wish I was. Want to go out on Friday night, if we get back." He asked.

"I have to go to Baltimore for a meeting this weekend, leaving on Friday, be back late Sunday." Sydney replied.

"The end is near?" he questioned.

"God, I hope so." She said.

"Well, the labs just came in, so I got to go. Talk to you soon. Be careful." He told her.

"Aaron, you be careful, too. Goodnight." She replied.

Wednesday was a busy day for Sydney, she met with all of the Detectives. She handed out and explained all the new regulations; a lot of upset people, especially for District Three and Four. She left the office early and picked up Lucas for dinner. He and his Dad are leaving tomorrow for a two-week cross country trip and then a ten-day stay in Malibu. They go to his favorite restaurant and have a wonderful evening. He promised to call her everyday. And he is posting their adventures to a blog, so she can keep track of him that way. She took him home and warned Jeff to take good care of their son.

"Mom, don't worry. We are going to have an awesome trip." He kept telling her.

"I know you will. Be safe. Call me everyday. I love you and I will miss you." She told him with tears in her eyes.

"Mom, I love you, too. I will talk to you tomorrow." She hugged and kissed him. Then hugged Jeff,

"Take care of him." She ordered him.

"Syd, I will take very good care of him. We will check in everyday. You be safe." Jeff told her. She said goodbye one more time and left.

She got home and let Lola out. Then changed her clothes and walked outside. Aaron called. "Hi." She said simply.

"Hello, is everything all right? You sound sad." He asked.

"Profiling me? I'm fine. I had dinner with Lucas, he leaving on vacation tomorrow. Where are you?" She said.

"We are still in Seattle. He will be back and it will be a great trip for him and his Dad." Aaron tried to reassure her.

"I know, but I already miss him." She whined.

"If it makes you feel any better, Jack leaving next Tuesday on vacation with his grandparents and cousins. And I will miss him. But, on the bright side, I will have more time to spend with you." He said.

"Good, we can cheer each other up." She said. They talked about the case the team is working on and general things.

"Get some rest." He told her.

"Hurry up finish your case and get home to me, goodnight." Sydney sighed.

Both of them hung up and wondered about this casual relationship.

Thursday was a busy day, she get a quick call from Aaron. They are still in Seattle and are very busy following up leads. She got home around nine, Lucas called her; they are in Nashville, Tennessee for the next day or so. He and his Dad are having a great time. She took a long hot bath and went to bed.

Before leaving on Friday morning, she dropped Lola off at Matt's. He has agreed to watch her for a few days. Then left for Baltimore. She arrived around 1:30 and met with the rest of team, FBI agents, and MPDC personnel. They have proof of involvement of fourteen members of the department that are taking kickbacks and committing assorted criminal acts. The ringleader, Chet Morton, is a detective with the District Three. He is a twenty-one year veteran of the force. They have proof of him receiving funds from many well-known criminals and receiving stolen goods. Through banking records, they can track the funds in the suspect's accounts. Sydney is still concern, they have a shooter working for them. But, they don't have an enough on the suspect to arrest him, no money trail. They know that he has done two killings and a possible third. They have heard rumors, but nothing to get him on. He works in District Four as a detective, name Barry Barstow. At the moment, the only hope is that when they make the arrests someone will implicate him. They go over everyone records, and then decided to start again in the morning around 10:00.

Sydney goes back to the hotel and ordered room service. She read over the files, again. Everything needed to be covered.

Sydney's phone buzzed, she smiled and answered it. "Hi, Aaron."

"Hi, how are you?" He asked.

She laughed, "I'm just great at the moment, I'm sitting in a hotel room reading over files. And where are you?"

"On the plane coming home. Just want to say goodnight, I will talk to you tomorrow. Miss you." He admitted.

"I miss you, too. Talk with you tomorrow." She smiled.

Sydney spent the next two days with the team; they ran every possible scenario that came to mind. This should all go down this week. Hopefully, without anyone getting seriously injured. She returned home late Sunday evening. She had talk with Lucas, they arrived in Austin, Texas tonight and were heading to a concert. He missed her, but is having a great time.

Aaron had spent the last two days getting Jack packed for his trip. Like Sydney, he knew his son would have a wonderful trip, but he would miss him. Aaron had a quick conversation with Syd yesterday evening while her team was taking a break.

Aaron called her, "Hi, hon." She answered.

"Are you safe at home?" He asked.

"I am, got home around 8:30. What did you and Jack do today?" Sydney inquired.

"Went to lunch and then to the park. Tried to finish packing, he wants to take way too much. He going to Florida, he only needs shorts and t-shirts." He laughed.

"That's true; don't forget to pack a sweatshirt in his carry on. Planes are chilly, he will need one for the evenings, anyway." She advised.

"Good idea, Mom, I'll make a note. How's Lucas doing?" Aaron asked with a smile.

"Great, talked with him on my way home. They are in Austin and loving it. I can't wait to see those pictures tomorrow. I must say, it is nice that he is posting to his blog everyday." She sighed.

"Send me that site, please. Well, Syd, you sound really tired. Get some rest. We'll talk tomorrow." He assured her.

"I am tired. Tell Jack I will call him tomorrow evening, night." She said sweetly. She text him the address of Lucas's blog; then set all of her alarms and went to bed.

She woke up early the next grabbed some breakfast and headed off to the FBI Building. She went up to Matt's office, he was expecting her; she had talked with him this morning. "Hi Sydney" He greeted her with a hug. "You look like crap. Is this almost over?"

"Yes, hopefully, thanks for doing this. It is not time to share whatever this is between Aaron and I." She told him.

"Understood." Matt said, he picked up his phone, "Morning, Hotch. Can you come to my office right now, please." He hung up the phone. "He is on his way." Matt picked up his coffee and walked over to the door. There is a knock. Matt opened it, "Morning, I will give you two some privacy. I will see you before you leave, Syd."

"Thanks, Matt." She told him.

"This is a surprise. Is everything all right?" Aaron asked her.

"It will be, if you kiss me." She said with a smile. He walked over and kissed her. Still holding her in his arms.

"Now, is everything all right?" He asked again.

"Yeah, it is. I brought this for Jack to take on vacation. But, I couldn't bring it directly to you without questions being asked. So, I had to do some special ops to get it to you." She explained.

They kissed again. Aaron looked in the bag, it was a camera. "Thank you, he will love it. We are still seeing each other tomorrow night? Right?" he questioned.

"We can, we are leaking some news tomorrow afternoon, it may be good to go out. We will be staying at the Hilton tomorrow night. I'm hoping someone will make a move to try to shake me up. So, if you don't mind being a part of this, sure we can go out." She smiled.

"I don't mind at all. I would feel better, knowing you were all right." He said.

"Well, I have got to get to my office. I will call Jack tonight. Have a good day." She smiled.

"Seeing you, is the best way to start my day." He smiled. They kissed a very passionately. "Syd, please be careful. I will call you later. Thank you, again for Jack's gift. He will love it." They kissed a couple of more times, he left to go back to his office. He passed Matt walking back to the office, "Thank you, Matt." Hotch told him.

"Anytime, Hotch" He said. Matt walked back into his office, "Everything okay, Sydney?"

"It is fine, Mateo. Just fine. Thank you. And thanks for watching Lola the next few days. I appreciate it. Have a wonderful day." She kissed him on the cheek.

"Anything for you, take care of yourself. Call me." He told her.

Sydney returned to her office, and began a very normal day. She has reports to file and cases to read. Her thoughts go to what the next few days may bring. Mid afternoon, Aaron called her, "Afternoon call? Leaving town?" she asked.

"No, just in between meeting, and felt like talking to you. How is your day?" he questioned.

"Very normal, so normal it's a little scary. It was nice seeing you this morning. When all of this is over and done with we need to take a long weekend somewhere." She suggested.

"We, meaning just the two of us, or are you including the boys?" he inquired.

"I love the boys, but I'm thinking just the two of us." She said.

"Good, I was hoping you were. That would be nice. Of course, it would just be a casual weekend." He teased.

"You are so funny." She said with a smile.

"But, I got you to smile, didn't I? Well, I have a meeting. Talk to you tonight. Take care." He said.

"Thanks for calling. Have a good meeting, bye." She replied.

Aaron left the office around 6:00, went home and picked up Jack and took him to his favorite taco restaurant for dinner. He handed the bag to Jack, "Sydney dropped by today, and left this for you." Aaron told him.

Jack pulled out the camera, "Dad, look she got me a camera. Now, I can take pictures on my trip. Wow." Jack said.

"Should we call and tell her thank you?" Dad asked. Jack nodded his head. Aaron called her.

She answers, "Hi." Expecting to hear Aaron's voice.

"Hi Sydney, thank you for the camera. It is really neat." Jack cheerfully said.

"Oh honey, I'm so glad you like it. Tell you what, you take a lot of pictures and when get back we will put them in a book for you." She told him.

"That would be great then I could show everybody. How's Luke?" He asked.

"He is great, he is on a trip with his Dad right now. And, he is taking a lot of pictures, too. We will have to all get together; so both of you can share them with your Dad and me. You have a great vacation, Jack. See you when you get back." Sydney said.

"I will. Thanks, again. I'll miss you. Bye." Jack said. He handed the phone to his Dad.

"Hi, is everything good?" he asked her.

"Now, that I talked to Jack, everything is wonderful. Enjoy your evening, call me when he goes to bed." She told him.

"I will talk to you later. Bye." He hung up just as their tacos were delivery to them.

Sydney walked in her house around 8:00, made scrambled eggs for dinner. And then started going over files. She did take a break and checked in on Luke's blog. He and his Dad looked like they are having a wonderful time. Aaron called after ten, they talked for about twenty minutes. Sydney is exhausted; she called it a day and goes to bed early.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

Jack's Grandparents picked him up around 9:00, to leave to the airport. So, Aaron arrived late to the office, Dave stopped by, "Is Jack on his way to Orlando?" He asked.

"Yes, he is." Aaron said with a smile.

Dave closed the office door, "Aaron, is something wrong? I can tell you are worried about something? Is there anything I can help with?"

"No, there is nothing you can do. I just have a lot on my mind. Thanks for the concern." He told him. "It is time for our meeting." Aaron stood, walked toward the door and patted Dave's back as he passed by.

"If you need me, I'm here." Dave replied. Aaron smiled.

Sydney has a meeting this morning, then a busy afternoon of waiting. The meeting goes well. She ordered in lunch and called Luke, they are traveling today. The next stop is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He sounded a little homesick for her. Which kind of made her feel good. It is nice to be missed.

It was decided, mostly by her, that the rumor about an investigation would be started at a food truck, the Dirty Dragon. It is always parked in front of the District Four building at lunchtime. It was the favorite place for the detectives to eat. It was a very simple rumor; Internal Affair is starting to investigate violations by detectives and officers. So far, none of the team had heard it repeated. Now, they wait.

She went down to the Squad room to ask a question about a case, as she walked over to the detective's desk. The room became very quiet, except for some whispers. So, the plan worked. She returned to her office about a half an hour later. Aaron called, "Hi." She answered.

"Hello, thought you might like to know I just heard a rumor, about an investigation taking place over at the MPDC." He told her.

"Interesting, wonder of that got started? Did Jack leave? Are you okay?" She laughed a little.

"He left this morning, and has already called me. He said the flight was awesome. And I'm fine; looking forward to seeing you. What time should I pick you up tonight?" he asked.

"Would 7:30 work for you?" Sydney questioned.

"That is fine. We are working on your schedule, tonight. You are in charge." He confirmed.

"Am I in charge the entire evening? Just wondering, I may have to repack my bag." She teased.

"Sound fascinating, go for it, honey." He laughed.

"But, I was thinking that when you arrived, it would be good for me to meet you at the door with a kiss, and then you can carry my bag to your car. In case someone is watching. And I was thinking about going to Thai restaurant around the corner, then leave after and to go to the hotel." She waited to see what he said.

"A close location, makes it easier on them to follow. Sounds like a good plan. So, I will see you then. If anything changes let me know." He told her.

"I will. Bye." She said.

She left at around 6:00, and got home about a quarter after. The first thing was pulling out a computer out of her briefcase and placed it on the counter. It was filled with misinformation, but hopefully it would be of interest. She got ready, decided to wear a sexy dress to complete the idea it was a date.

At 7:30, she saw Aaron walking up to the door, she opened the door, took a step toward him and they shared a passionate kiss. His hands clutched her ass the entire kiss. They stepped in and closed the door. "Hands on my ass. Nice touch." Sydney told him.

"I improvised that. You know in case we are being watched." He teased.

"I'm almost ready. Just need to turn on the cameras." She picked up her iPad and turned them on.

"Ready"

He picked up her bag, they walked over to the door and she turned on the alarm. They headed to the car; he opened the door and kissed her as she got in. He put the bag in the back.

The restaurant is only two blocks away, within a few minutes they are pulling in to the parking lot. They got out and walked around to the front entrance of the restaurant. As they are going in Aaron whispered, "Dark blue sedan."

She smiled, "I see it."

They asked to be seated in a booth in front of the window. They placed their orders and talked about their day. They bring each other up to date on the adventures of their sons. The food was served it was excellent.

Sydney laughed, "Funny, we can have a good time together no matter what is going on around us."

"Of course, we can." He took her hand. They finished and left the restaurant. "We are going to take the long way to the hotel. Let's see how long they will follow?"

They left the restaurant and headed south; the sedan followed for about ten blocks. Aaron turned on the Rock Creek Parkway, the car following took the first exit. Aaron took the next one and headed to the hotel. They got the bags out of the car and headed up to the room. The key card was dropped off to her earlier today.

They go up to the room, Sydney immediately take off her shoes. "Long day?" Aaron smiled as he is removed his tie and jacket.

"A little bit." She replied.

"These can be stressing days." He teased.

"Yes, I noticed that. Are you thinking the same thing I am?" Sydney asked him.

"Checking the feed from the house?" He said with a smile.

She shook her head yes and pulled out her computer, sets it on the table. Aaron pulled a chair up beside of her as she logged in. Just as the feed is coming up, she dialed her partner on this case, Rob and put him on speaker. "Hi, Rob, I'm here with Aaron. We just logged on." She told him.

"They are in, have been there for about ten minutes. Oh, we have ID the person following you, tonight. By the way, before you leave the MPDC you need to teach them surveillance techniques. They are really bad at it." Rob laughed.

"Will do. Well, we are going to watch. Talk to you later." She said.

They sat there with bourbon in hand, watching Morton and another suspect look through her place. Morton turned on the computer, then plugged in a thumb drive to copy files. "Plant?" Aaron asked.

"Of course, a list of names, nothing real." The other man grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator. "Make yourself at home, you bastard." Syd said with displeasure.

"But, look he just twisted off the lid and threw it in the trash." Aaron said. He made a note to check the bottle and cap for DNA.

"These guys are cops for god's sake, they should be better at this" She laughed.

The men walked around snooping in the house for another fifteen or so minutes. Morton was in her bedroom, he looked in her medicine cabinet. Aaron glanced at her. "I have already moved most of my personal items out. Including your stuff." She told him.

"Good" He nodded.

Morton moved over to the bed, he folded back the blankets and masturbated on the sheets. Then looking very satisfied with himself, he remade the bed. "He is so stupid, leaving DNA." She couldn't believe he did that.

"You have to remember he is a narcissist, he thinks he is so much smarter than you. He believes that will go totally unnoticed." Aaron reminded her.

About five minutes later, they left the house, after setting the alarm.

"How would he get the alarm code?" Aaron questioned.

"I'm sure he put a call in to the emergency number listed for the company on the front door. Identified himself as a detective with MPDC and needed immediate entry into the house. That would be pretty simple to do. I'm sure it will be checked out." She told him.

Her phone rang, "Hi, Rob." She answered hitting the speaker button.

"Did you two enjoy the show? I thought the plot was a little thin." He joked.

"So, did I. When are you going into process the house?" she asked.

"Probably, around 6:00 A.M., but you can't be in the house and you know that." Rob reminded her.

"What about me?" Aaron asked.

"Thanks, but you were with her tonight. They can identify you. We got this don't worry." Rob informed him. "Sydney, I know you are pissed right now, but you know tomorrow has to be a normal day for you."

"I know, Rob. But, you know I have a problem with the waiting. I will talk to you tomorrow." Syd replied.

"You two have a nice evening. Bye." Rob said.

"Exciting way to spend our first in a hotel together, isn't it?" she joked.

"That was just foreplay for us." He teased. "The best is yet to come."

"Promises. Do you have a plan?" She said walked over and started to unbutton his shirt. She undoes his belt and unzipped his fly and ran her hand down the front of them. "I think you are ready for more foreplay."

She pulled his slacks and boxers down; they drop to the floor.

He unzipped her dress, "You look beautiful tonight." He said. Her dress is now on the floor. They dropped on the bed, and they pleased each other in so many ways. "God, that was fabulous." Sydney said as she gasped for breath.

"Yeah, I was pretty good." He said. She stared at him, he laughed.

"I'm glad you wanted to be here tonight with me." She told him.

"Can't think of any other place I would rather be. And you are the only person I want to be with." He kissed her.

Aaron moved up against the headboard she moved beside of him. "I have a question? Has your house always been monitored?" He asked.

"Yes, the cameras were installed before I moved in. However, I controlled when they are on; I'm the only one with the code. So, to answer your real question; no we were never taped and no one was ever watching us." She laughed.

"That's good, I just wondered." He said with a smile.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

She woke up early the next morning, couldn't sleep. Sydney knew the adrenaline levels in her system were up due to the situation. So, decided to use that energy, she straddled Aaron and made love to him. He didn't seem to mind. After, she collapsed on him, he wrapped his arms around her, "Working off some nervous energy this morning, my dear?" he questioned with that cute little smile.

"Maybe, did you mind being used?" she teased.

"Not at all, you can use me anytime you want." He laughed.

They ordered breakfast and got ready for work. As they were eating, he asked, "How are you getting to work this morning? And are we staying here tonight or at my place?"

"Someone will pick me up. And yes, we will be here tonight, maybe. It will depend on where we are in the case. I may be making arrests or doing interrogations. But, I will keep you updated." She kissed him.

He walked in the bathroom, finished cleaning up and packed his bag. While he is doing that, she checked in at the house, Aaron walked out and looked at the screen. Sydney called Rob.

"Morning, Syd. How did I know you would be watching?" He answered.

"Can't help myself. Is everything going well?" Aaron showed her the note that he made last night, "Don't forget to get the beer bottle and cap out of the trash, it is from the unsub last night." She said watching him as he collected them both from the trash and bagged it.

"Anything else?" He asked.

"Nope, I'll talk to you later." She said.

"I'm sure he loved you looking over his shoulder?" Aaron smirked.

"We worked together for a long time, he understands me." She replied.

"Sounds like I need to have a talk with him." He teased her.

"Well, I have get to the office. I will talk to you later. Call me." He told her as he kissed her bye. "Be careful, today."

"Don't worry about me. I will be fine. See you later." They kissed again he left. Sydney dressed and called for a ride back to her place. She will then drive to the station.

Aaron arrived at the office a little before 7:30. Cruz walked in and up to Hotch's office, "Morning, Hotch. You got a minute?"

He looked up from his computer, "Of course, come in." Cruz closed the door behind him.

"How is Syd?" he asked.

"Fine. A little anxious, she's hoping this will be over with today." Hotch said. Not really knowing how much Cruz knew about the assignment.

"God, I hope so. Just wanted to check up on her. If anything happens let me know. Thanks, Hotch." He said as he is leaving the office.

Sydney arrived to her office, nothing new to report yet. The house has been processed, all evidence has been sent to the lab, so now they wait. Rob arrived at her office around 9:00 with coffee in hand. They go over everything one more time. The plan was to arrest the fourteen suspects around the same time. As of today, all of them are being watched. They know where all of them are at every moment, so they are ready.

While they were waiting they caught up with each other. Rob told her about their family vacation, he has two very cute little girls. Then he asked, "So, this Aaron guy, how long has this been going on?"

Sydney smiled, "A couple of months."

"Syd, I've known you for six years. You didn't have a relationship that lasted longer than a couple of weeks, a month at the most in all of that time. So, you being with involved for two months is big news. What unit is he in?" He stated.

"He is with the BAU. Believe me, I wasn't planning on getting involved. It just happened. He's a great guy. I'm sure you will meet him before all of this is over." She smiled. Her phone buzzed, "Speaking of Aaron."

"I will wait outside." He said.

"Hi, Aaron" She answered.

"Everything, all right?" He asked.

"Fine, just waiting for the reports from the CSI. How's your day?" Sydney asked.

"We just got called out, we are going to Raleigh. But, you are to stay in touch with me. Understand, I want to know what is going on. Be careful." He sternly ordered.

"Yes, Aaron, I promise, I will keep in touch. I will be fine. You keep your mind on your case, not on mine. Call me when you get a chance. Be careful." She instructed him.

"Got to go. Call if you need me." He said.

"I'll miss you tonight, bye." She said as she hung up.

Sydney walked out to the outer office; she and Rob went down to the cafeteria to get coffee. Luke called to check in, he is enjoying the trip. As they drank their coffee, she and Rob continued their conversation.

"Aaron called to tell me, they had to leave for a case in Raleigh. He is going to worry about me all the time. He has a tendency to be a little overprotective." She told Rob.

"That's good you need someone to watch over you. He sounds like a good match for you. On the phone last night I could tell he was a little controlling and narcissist; just like you. Give him a chance." Rob said.

"I will." She told him with a smile.

Rob's phone buzzed, "We have our results, ready to visit a judge? We have one standing by to sign all the papers." He smiled.

We headed over to the judge's office. Syd called the DA, as they were leaving the building. He will meet them at the Courthouse. They met with the Judge, and the DA, she presented the evidence we had on each of the fourteen. After hearing all of it, he signed warrants for the arrests, plus the search of all their properties. They also, told him about the fifteenth suspect, he said to call anytime we need it. There would be no delay.

They were back at the station by 2:00, met with the teams that would be assisting in the arrest. Ten of the fourteen were on duty, including Morton. At the time of the arrest, their residences will also be searched and financial accounts frozen. Timing is everything. She is making the arrest of Morton, so she will be at District Three; there are four others in that Unit involved. So with warrants in hand, they all left the building. This isn't a small take down, there are over fifty agents and officers involved. Everyone left to get the locations.

About forty minutes later everyone is in place. They send word to Sydney. She put the call out to the agents in charge of the locations. "Let's do this." She tells them.

She and two agents walked in to the District Three Detective office, everyone just stopped and stared. She walked directly to Detective Morton, "Detective Chester Morton, you are under arrest for Fraud, Extortion, Embezzlement. Those are the top three charges out of a list of many. I need you to hand me your gun and shield." He just stared at her, she stared back. "Your shield and the gun. Now." She ordered. He complied.

He is handcuffed and Sydney proudly gave him his rights. Then he and the other are taken down to the main station for interrogation. Within the hour they had all fourteen in custody. Everyone was glad about how this when down. She would wait to do the interrogation of Morton for a couple of hours. In the meantime the others would be interrogated. The hope is someone will want to cut a deal. Then there is still the issue of the shooter. She would think about that later. They ordered in pizza for the unit, it was going to be a long night for everyone.

She grabbed a piece of pizza and headed into her office. She called Aaron, he picked up very quickly. "You okay?" he asked.

"Great, we made the arrests. You don't know that a rush it was for me to give Morton his rights." She said with a slight scream.

"Good, talked with him yet?" he asked.

"No, I'm going to let him stew for a while, they said he was yelling and wanted to talk to me now. So, I figure in a couple of hours." She said.

"That's good you need to have total control when you walk in there." He advised.

"Don't worry, I will be a total bitch. How is your case going?" she questioned.

"We think he is in a psychotic break, but we may have a good lead on where to find him. Well, I have to go. I will call again when I get a chance. Be careful." He told her.

"You be careful too. Get some rest. Bye." She said as she hung up.

Aaron walked back in and joined the team, JJ had just talked with Will, and she shared the news about the arrests being made at the MPDC. Everyone was shocked by the news.

Some of the suspects have already had their provisional interviews, she read over the reports. The suspects are not giving up a lot of information. She will talk to a few of them tomorrow, hopefully by then they would have had time to think about what they have done. Rob walked in the office, she said, "I'm ready. Let's go." She picked up a file they head down to interview Morton.

Morton is seated in a room with his attorney by his side, he asked for him immediately. Sydney glanced at Rob, "I'm going in by myself." She told him.

"Why doesn't that surprise me? Have fun." He shook his head.

She walked in the room, with a smile on her face. The attorney quickly said, "My client has nothing to say to you."

Syd continued to smile, "Good that will save us time, I have two offers to put on the table. First, you fully cooperate, give us all the details and answer all our questions. In return, you will be sentenced to life, in solitary confinement, removed from the general population. You could live to see your grandchildren grow up. The other one, you can go to trial and take your chances. But, with statements, DNA evidence, video evidence; you won't win. Then you will serve your time in the general population in the State Penitentiary. I will make sure of that. That isn't a safe place for a cop, even a dirty one." She finished her statement, still smiling.

"Oh wait, I do have one more question." She laid two photos on the table, "Which one of these photos should I release to the media? Either would look great on the front page of the paper." He stared at the photos. Sydney continued, "Now this one is a nice picture of you entering the home of a Federal Agent illegally. But, this is the one I'm lending toward releasing." She threw it in front of him. It showed him masturbating on her bed. "Was it cold in my house last night? Or are you really so small?" She laughed a little.

"So, think about all of this, talk it over with your attorney. Let us know by 10:00 A.M. tomorrow. Oh, by the way, all of your accounts were frozen as of 3:00 today. And I do mean, all of them even the off shore ones, and the one in your ex-wife's name. Well, you two have a lot to talk about. See you in the morning." She left the room.

As she walked into the outer room, she ordered, "He is to be put in lockdown, escorted and watched by FBI Agents, only. No one, talks to him, except his attorney. Understood."

"Yes, Ma'am" The Agents answered in unison.

She and Rob returned to her office.

"How do you think it went?" She asked.

"Good, I loved the photo thing." He laughed. "It is time to get some rest. Come on let's go." They leave and go to the hotel. An FBI agent will be stationed in front of her door just in case.

She showered and pulled on a t-shirt, it is a little after one. Been a good day, she thought. Just as she was getting into bed her phone buzzed, she looks at the ID. "Hi, checking up on me again." She asked.

"No, maybe, where are you?" Aaron questioned.

"At the hotel, got back about thirty minutes ago. How, about you?" Syd wondered.

"Hotel. Just walked in. Did you interview him? How did it go?" For the next ten minutes, she gave him the highlights of her interview with Morton. "Sounds like you did a great job." He said thinking how proud he was of her. "Is someone watching you, tonight. There is still a shooter out there?" He asked.

"Yes, dear, Rob is in the room next to mine and an agent is posted outside my room. I'm safe. Now, get some sleep. I'll talk to you, tomorrow." She said.

"We both need rest. Talk to you in the morning, be careful. I miss you." He told her.

"I will. Be safe. Miss you." She smiled.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

Sydney and Rob have breakfast in her room. They are both going to conduct interviews with the suspects. They divided up the list. And then left to start their day. She interviewed two suspects and then headed to her office. She arrived and called Lucas, they are going to Taos today. They talked for the next fifteen minutes. It was a great way to start this busy day. She got a call from Morton's attorney agreeing to take the deal for life, in solitary confinement. She told them the District Attorney's office would be in contact. Aaron hasn't called this morning. Hopefully, that is a good sign and the team will be returning home soon.

By 12:30, she and Rob are in her office, they ordered lunch and discussed the interviews. Unfortunately, Morton ran the operation very well; the others were on a need to know bases. No one mentioned the shooter, Barry Barstow. "We need a way to get Barstow. There is no doubt that he is the shooter. I say we set a little trap." She said smiling.

"Why do I know I'm going to hate this plan? But, let's hear it anyway." Rob said shaking his head.

"We have four detectives that are going to be promoted. They have already been selected, I was going to talk with them next week when this was all over but let's call them in today. And call in Barstow also; tell him he has been selected. After, the meeting, I will share with them I going for a run. He will know where I will be. He needs to take care of loose ends." She told him.

"So, we are going to use you as bait? Excellent plan." He said sarcastically.

"I will be fine, I will talk with them at 2:00, run at 6:00. That will give us four hours to put agents and shooters along the trail. I will wear a vest and a wire. I will be in constant contact with you. You will have eyes on me at all times. He may not even take the bait. " She tried to convince him.

"It doesn't matter what I say, does it?" Rob asked. She smiled. "Okay, let's work out the details."

"First, I have to arrange a meeting." She called her assistant and had him contact the five detectives for her meet with at 2:00. For the next hour she and Rob worked out the plan. Rob got the team together, and told them. He gave them their assignments. It was a go on that end.

At 2:00, she walked into the conference room, the five detectives were waiting for her. Gathered at the table were, Anna Grant, District One; Lewis Smith, District One; Andrew Wayne, District Three; Will LaMontagne, District Five and of course, Barry Barstow, District Four. They all stood, "Please be seated. You are probably wondering, why I called you here, today? After, working with the MPDC for the last few months, the five of you rose to the top. As you probably heard, we have some positions that we are going to need to fill. I was authorized to offer the five of you promotions. It will not be easy to step into these positions, you will be watched and challenged. You should know your superiors made the selections. I had nothing to do with it. I'm going to give you a listing of the positions. Take the weekend, let me know on early next week. Just call my office and make the appointment. Thanks to all you, and with your help we will make the MPDC a better work environment and restore the reputation of the Department." She finished.

"Are you going to be remaining with the MPDC?" Will asked.

"For a few of months, I'm going to help with the restructuring and made sure everything is cleaned up from this episode. Anymore questions." They had a couple of questions about the placements. Then she finally said, "Well, this has been interesting, but I have had a few long of days. I'm looking forward to getting some fresh air and clearing my mind; and to me that means running. So, I'm going to go finish my reports and get out of here at a decent time and hopefully by six I will be at the park." She said with a smile.

"You're a runner, where do you run?" Barstow asked.

"The trail at Rock Creek is great. I'm sure that where I will end up tonight. Thank you all for coming. I look forward to talking and working with you." She ended the meeting and went back to her office.

She walked in and told Rob about Barstow question. "That's a little telling isn't it?" He laughed. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Rob asked one more time.

"Yes, it will work. He needs to be taken off the streets." She replied.

"Okay, I'm going to go get everyone set. One more thing, if you tell Aaron about this, please stress how much against I am." He teased her. "Be careful." He hugged her.

She worked on some reports, and called Lucas. She just needed to talk with him. He told her he had brought her a necklace with a turquoise in it and he loved her. That's all she needed to hear. Around 5:30, she prepared to leave the office. She had changed into her running clothes, when her phone rang. It was Aaron, "Hey" she said.

"Hi, it is good to talk to you. How is everything there?" he asked.

"Calming down, we are gathering information. How's your case?" she asked.

"Over, as we were closing in he committed suicide. So, we will be leaving here in about thirty minutes. Are you okay, you sound stressed?" He said slightly worried.

"I have had a couple of stressful days. I was just leaving to go for run." She told him.

"Well, the good news is I will be with you tonight to relief some of your stress. Well, I've got to go; we are leaving for the airport. Have a good run. See you later." He told her.

"I will." She paused for a moment. "Aaron, I love you."

That took him totally by surprise. "I love you, Sydney. See you tonight, bye." They hung up.

Rob walked in could see tears in her eyes, "You don't have to do this. There are other ways. Someone may give him up. There are deals that could be made." He said rambling on.

"Let's go." She said as she pulled herself together. He helped her put on the vest and then covered it with a big t-shirt. She drove to the park, Rob followed.

They are on the plane headed back to Quantico; Aaron took a seat in the front of the plane. Dave walked over and sat across from him. "Is everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah. I still have a lot on my mind." Aaron answered.

"Well, I don't know exactly what's happening. But, I'm assuming your worries, have something to do with what is going on at the MPDC." Dave told him.

"It could, they have everyone in custody except the shooter. It worries me that he will go after her. She told me everything is under control. But, I can tell that she is stressed." Aaron admitted.

"Aaron, she is a well-trained agent, so have faith that she knows what she is doing. I do." Dave assured him.

Aaron looked at his watch they should be landing in about thirty minutes. JJ passed by, "JJ, any news about what going on at the MPDC?" Dave asked her.

"I talked to Will, before we took off. He and four other detectives met with McKinnon this afternoon, to discuss promotions. So, it sounds like they are moving forward very quickly." She went back to her seat.

"Why would Syd hold that meeting today?" Aaron asked.

"I don't know. I'm sure she had her reasons. Trust her, Aaron." Dave reminded him.

She started her run, for a minute she enjoyed it. Then she reminded herself of the purpose of the run. Rob said, "We have eyes on you. Slow down a little. Our team isn't that fast."

"Okay, we are coming up on two miles of woods. Keep a close eye out." She remarked

"Syd, we are with your every step." He replied.

About a mile and a half into the woods, Sydney felt a hit in the back. Then she heard four maybe more shots fired. She was on the ground face down, she rolled over. Within minutes Rob was at her side.

"Don't move you need to be checked out." He ordered.

"Did we get him?" She asked as she winced in pain.

"We did. Now, shut up." Rob ordered her.

The medics are now on the scene. They placed a neck brace on her got her on a stretcher and then into the ambulance. They transported her to the hospital, Rob rode with her. They arrived she was checked out and x-rays were taken. The bullet had lodged in the lower right back of her vest, she had a bruised kidney. But, she would be fine. She was told to get plenty of rest for a few days and drink water. They gave her some pills for the pain. Of course, she insisted on going back to her office.

The team is about ten minute from landing; JJ got a call. They heard her say, "Oh, my god. That is horrible. Is she all right? Keep me updated."

"What's wrong, JJ?" Morgan questioned.

"McKinnon just got shot as she was running." JJ reported.

"Is she okay?" Dave asked.

Aaron isn't waiting for JJ to answer; he called Sydney, no answer. Then he calls Cruz, "Hotch, she is fine. Rob just called me. She got hit in the vest." He answered. Aaron took a deep breath.

"Where is she now?" he asked.

"They were leaving to go to her office. Rob said to tell you to come there." Cruz relayed the message.

"Thanks, Matt." Hotch said.

Dave and the team looked at him, Hotch took a very deep breath and calmed himself down. "She's fine got hit in the vest. And is already on her way to the office." Aaron informed them.

They are getting ready to land. "She used herself as bait to get the shooter. I should have figured out that she was planning." Aaron said to Dave.

"She's a good agent. Do you want me to go to the station with you?" Dave asked.

"No, she's fine. Thanks." Aaron said. As soon as they land, Aaron left for the Police Station.

She was in her office with Rob, when Aaron walked in and looked at her.

"Nice to meet you, Aaron. I will give you two some privacy." Rob said walking out of her office.

She stood up and smiled, he still hasn't spoken. Sydney moved over to him, "I'm okay, just bruised. It may not have been the best plan, but it worked. We got the shooter. Say something, yell, scream." She gazed into his eyes. Aaron kissed her.

"I'm not going to yell or scream. You scared me, I could have lost you." He said as they kissed, again . He wrapped his arms around her.

"Not too tight" She reminded him.

"Did you mean what you said on the phone?" he asked.

"Did you mean it?" She questioned.

"Yes, Sydney, I love you." He said kissing her.

"I love you, too." She moved her head back a little from his. And said, "Of course, it is just a casual love." She smiled. He kissed her.


End file.
